Te Wananga O Aotearoa Teaches how to do a Mihi and Pepeha for Non-Maori

A mihi is a formal greeting, which includes your pepeha, whakapapa, whakatauki etc. Whakapapa tells people about your lineage and ancestry, whereas a Pepeha anchors you to the land. You can link yourself to mountains, rivers, tribes or other landmarks.

Maoridom prioritizes everything before oneself. You always begin by acknowledging God or the Creator. You can then go on to greet the deceased. From there, you need to build rapport with your listeners, through your pepeha.

For non-Maori, the pepeha will be more exotic and that's ok. It tells people that your roots are elsewhere. Some non-maori still anchor themselves to local landmarks, and that is ok as well.

Here is an example of a non-Maori (Me, with Middle Eastern roots) giving my mihimihi :)

Thanks for watching!



As requested, here are the re reo words:

Ko te kupu tuatahi ka mihi ki te kaihanga
Koia rā te tīmatanga
Me te whakamutunga
O ngā mea katoa
Kororia ki te Atua nui i te rangi
Maungarongo ki runga i te mata o te whenua
Whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata katoa

Ko Arafa te maunga
Ko Rafidayn te awa
Ko Emirates te waka
Ko Abraham te tangata
Ko Mariam ahau

Tuhia ki te rangi
Tuhia ki te whenua
Tuhia ki te ngākau o ngā tangata
Ko te me nui
Ko te aroha
Tīhei mauri ora

Ano te ahua reka o te noho tahi
Ā te teina me te tuakana i runga i te whakaaro kotahi

Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou e ngā kaiwhakarongo

Ko te tumanako ka whaihua tēnei huihuinga o tātou